CD Details

Number of Discs: 12

Released: October 26, 2004

Originally Released: 2004

Label: Grateful Dead / WEA

Description by OLDIES.com:

Bringing together the albums released on Grateful Dead Records and later Arista, this monumental 12-disc box represents the second leg of the Dead's long, strange trip. Each title is expanded with rare and previously unreleased material from the vaults -- 65 bonus tracks in all.

The box contains the albums Wake Of The Flood (1973), From The Mars Hotel (1974), Blues For Allah (1975), Terrapin Station (1977), Shakedown Street (1978), Go To Heaven (1980), Reckoning (1981), Dead Set (1981), In The Dark (1987), and Built To Last (1989). Two 100-page books include a discography, rare photos, and essays by Dennis McNally, David Fricke, David Gans, Blair Jackson, David Lemieux, and many others.

Entertainment Reviews:

Uncut - p.138

5 stars out of 5 - "This box proves again that the Dead's career remains one of the most engrossing journeys in rock'n'roll."

Dirty Linen - pp.48-49

"[T]here is a lot of great material here..."

Mojo (Publisher) - p.116

4 stars out of 5 - "BEYOND DESCRIPTION presents the entire post-Warners run, and like its predecessor, is stacked with outtakes, rehearsals, live versions and demos..."

Tracks on Disc 4:

6.Terrapin Station Pt. I: Lady With A Fan / Terrapin Station / Terrapin / Terrapin Transit / At A Sidi

7.Peggy-O

8.The Ascent

9.Catfish John

10.Equinox

11.Fire On The Mountain

12.Dancin' In The Streets

Tracks on Disc 5:

1.Good Lovin'

2.France

3.Shakedown Street

4.Serengetti

5.Fire On The Mountain

6.I Need A Miracle

7.From The Heart Of Me

8.Stagger Lee

9.All New Minglewood Blues

10.If I Had The World To Give

11.Good Lovin'

12.Ollin Arageed

13.Fire On The Mountain

14.Stagger Lee

15.All New Minglewood Blues

Tracks on Disc 6:

1.Alabama Getaway

2.Far From Me

3.Althea

4.Feel Like A Stranger

5.Lost Sailor

6.Saint Of Circumstance

7.Antwerp's Placebo (The Plumber)

8.Easy To Love You

9.Don't Ease Me In

10.Peggy-O

11.What'll You Raise

12.Jack-A-Roe

13.Althea

14.Lost Sailor

15.Saint Of Circumstance

Tracks on Disc 7:

1.Dire Wolf

2.The Race Is On

3.Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie

4.It Must Have Been The Roses

5.Dark Hollow

6.China Doll

7.Been All Around This World

8.Monkey And The Engineer

9.Jack-A-Roe

10.Deep Elem Blues

11.Cassidy

12.To Lay Me Down

13.Rosalie McFall

14.On The Road Again

15.Bird Song

16.Ripple

Tracks on Disc 8:

1.To Lay Me Down

2.Iko Iko

3.Heaven Help The Fool

4.El Paso

5.Sage & Spirit

6.Little Sadie

7.It Must Have Been The Roses

8.Dark Hollow

9.Jack-A-Roe

10.Cassidy

11.China Doll

12.Monkey And The Engineer

13.Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie

14.Ripple

15.Tom Dooley

16.Deep Elem Blues

Tracks on Disc 9:

1.Samson And Delilah

2.Friend Of The Devil

3.New Minglewood Blues

4.Deal

5.Candyman

6.Little Red Rooster

7.Loser

8.Passenger

9.Feel Like A Stranger

10.Franklin's Tower

11.Rhythm Devils

12.Space

13.Fire On The Mountain

14.Greatest Story Ever Told

15.Brokedown Palace

Tracks on Disc 10:

1.Let It Grow

2.Sugaree

3.C.C.Rider

4.Row Jimmy

5.Lazy Lightnin'

6.Supplication

7.High Time

8.Jack Straw

9.Shakedown Street

10.Not Fade Away

Tracks on Disc 11:

1.Touch Of Grey

2.Hell In A Bucket

3.When Push Comes To Shove

4.West L.A. Fadeaway

5.Tons Of Steel

6.Throwing Stones

7.Black Muddy River

8.My Brother Esau

9.West L.A. Fadeaway

10.Black Muddy River

11.When Push Comes To Shove

12.Touch Of Grey

13.Throwing Stones

Tracks on Disc 12:

1.Foolish Heart

2.Just A Little Light

3.Built To Last

4.Blow Away

5.Victim Of The Crime

6.We Can Run

7.Standing On The Moon

8.Picasso Moon

9.I Will Take You Home

10.Foolish Heart

11.Blow Away

12.California Earthquake (Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On)

Product Description:

BEYOND DESCRIPTION contains: WAKE OF THE FLOOD (1973)/ GRATEFUL DEAD FROM THE MARS HOTEL (1974)/BLUES FOR ALLAH (1975)/TERRAPIN STATION (1977)/SHAKEDOWN STREET (1978)/GO TO HEAVEN (1980)/RECKONING (1981)/DEAD SET (1981)/IN THE DARK (1987)/BUILT TO LAST (1989) as well as extensive bonus material associated with each original release.

In the first seven years of its existence, as chronicled on the GOLDEN ROAD box set, the Grateful Dead went from a garage R&B band to LSD-fueled experimentalists to acoustic country rockers. The stylistic expanses traversed during the subsequent phases of the group's lifetime were just as great. THE GOLDEN ROAD's companion piece, the dozen-disc box BEYOND DESCRIPTION, contains all of the Dead's post-Americana-period releases up to their final studio album, 1989's BUILT TO LAST. Each is buttressed with numerous outtakes, demos, live versions, etc. Most impressively, in the case of the back-to-basics acoustic live album RECKONING, there's an entire disc of bonus material.

Over the course of BEYOND DESCRIPTION, we witness changes on several levels; following organist/singer Pigpen's death, the arrival of keyboardist Keith Godchaux and his vocalist wife, Donna, helped edge the band beyond its blues/country roots toward such jazz-rock excursions as "Eyes of the World," while Bob Weir expanded his horizons as well with the ambitious contemporaneous piece "Weather Report Suite." By the mid-'70s, bold conceptual works were the group's stock in trade, from the prog-rock shadings of "Blues for Allah" to the side-long epic "Terrapin Station." After Keith's death, new arrival Brent Mydland at the turn of the decade helped revitalize the band with his more soulful approach, and the Dead moved back to the rich, rootsy sound it had embraced 10 years earlier. This approach eventually earned the band a whole new generation of fans via the 1987 hit "Touch of Grey." The whole journey is laid out here, and spiced with so many extras that even hardcore Deadheads will find themselves waylaid in wonderment.